He’s working to expose medical students to the arts and humanities not because he hopes the training will make them more compassionate people, but because he believes the skills involved in writing stories and creating art makes for better doctors. He argues that doctors need to learn to think creatively to effectively diagnose what’s really going on with their patients.

Baruch also explores those idea in his book-Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and other Strangers. Take a listen to this interview to get a better idea of how he makes the connection between story telling and medicine.